For other uses, see: Richard Cole (disambiguation).

Richard Cole

Richard Cole (born January 2, 1946) was heavily involved in the rock music business from the mid-1960s to 2003, and is most famous for being the tour manager of English rock band Led Zeppelin from 1968 to 1980.

Cole was from North London, where he originally fought as a boxer and worked as a scaffolder on construction sites. He was also very interested in music and fashion, at one point harbouring plans to be a fashion designer, and he claims to have designed the shirts worn by John Lennon and Ringo Starr on the Revolver album cover.^[1]

Cole was drawn into the music business after meeting Richard Green, journalist for the Record Mirror, at the Marquee Club in 1965. Green suggested that Cole contact John Barker, the manager of pop band Unit 4 Plus 2, for a job as their road manager. Barker gave Cole the job, and he soon became one of rock's most respected tour managers, working for The Who in 1965 and The New Vaudeville Band in 1966. In 1967 Cole moved to America and worked for Vanilla Fudge as a sound engineer. When he heard that The Yardbirds were coming to America in 1968, he contacted their manager Peter Grant, whom he had previously known when Grant was the manager of the New Vaudeville Band, and became their tour manager. When The Yardbirds dissolved shortly thereafter, Grant and Cole became the manager and tour manager respectively of Led Zeppelin.

Cole was one of the first tour managers to specialize in the American tours of English bands. Instead of hiring equipment in America and using an American crew to service the band, as was the custom until that point, Cole implemented the new practice of bringing over all the equipment and an entirely English crew. This practice subsequently became commonplace for other bands touring America.

Whilst tour manager for Led Zeppelin, Cole developed substance abuse problems. He was fired from his position as road manager for Led Zeppelin's final ever concert tour of Europe in 1980 because Peter Grant was concerned about his drug and alcohol abuse.^[2] Sent to Italy to detox, Cole was mistaken for a terrorist involved in a bombing and was temporarily imprisoned.^[3]

Cole stopped using drugs in the early 1980s and has been sober since 1986.^{[citation needed]} He has served as the tour manager for Eric Clapton, Black Sabbath, Lita Ford, Ozzy Osborne and Three Dog Night, managed Fem 2 Fem and, most recently, toured with Gipsy Kings, Crazy Town and Fu Manchu.

Richard Cole is also mentioned in the deleted scenes from the documentary Plaster Caster. There, Cynthia Plaster Caster recalls two experiences with him. While trying to obtain a casting for her collection, she is asked to give Robert Plant fellatio and at some point Richard Cole urinates on her. On another occasion she states that he chases her through a hotel and she is able to escape, but she insinuates that he may have been involved with the whipping of her friend Harlo during this encounter, after Cynthia escaped.

Since Led Zeppelin's breakup in 1980, Cole has contributed to a number of unofficial Led Zeppelin biographies, most notably Stephen Davis' much-maligned biography Hammer of the Gods. Cole has claimed he was only paid $1250 by Davis for his revelations, which make up a large proportion of the book. Cole has also written his own book, Stairway to Heaven: Led Zeppelin Uncensored, with Richard Trubo. Cole's book raised the ire of Page, who once commented:

According to Cole's publisher HarperCollins, he now divides his time between Venice, California, and London.^[4]

External links

• Interview with Richard Cole

Sources

• Cole, Richard, and Trubo, Richard (1992), Stairway to Heaven: Led Zeppelin Uncensored, New York: HarperCollins, ISBN 0-06-018323-3
• Welch, Chris (2002), Peter Grant: The Man Who Led Zeppelin, London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-9195-2.

References

Led Zeppelin
Jimmy Page · Robert Plant · John Paul Jones · John Bonham
Studio albums	Led Zeppelin · Led Zeppelin II · Led Zeppelin III · (Led Zeppelin IV) · Houses of the Holy · Physical Graffiti · Presence · In Through the Out Door
Live albums	The Song Remains the Same · BBC Sessions · How the West Was Won
Compilations	Coda · Box Set · Profiled · Remasters · Box Set 2 · Complete Studio Recordings · Early Days: Best of Led Zeppelin Volume One · Latter Days: Best of Led Zeppelin Volume Two · Mothership
Films	The Song Remains the Same · Led Zeppelin DVD
Related articles	Discography · Peter Grant · Richard Cole · Swan Song Records · The Yardbirds · XYZ · The Firm · Page and Plant · Strange Sensation · Bootlegs · Concerts · Songs

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